Little Cotton Rabbits

A quick hoglet update

Just a quickie to let you know how Herbie Hogwort is fairing. It was exactly a week ago today that he was found crying piteously, wet, cold and hungry near to a dead brother/sister. Then he weighed just 140gms but after a week of goats milk mixed with chicken flavour kitten food he now weighs in at a plump 195gms! He's doing really well and has tried some raisins, crushed nuts and kitten biscuits.

He's also having fun playing with an old flower pot, some pebbles and an empty snail shell which he likes to bite, shake and carry around.

Unfortunately he still has 2 of the 4 ticks that he was found with - I got 2 to drop off by painting them with olive oil and will now try vaseline to coat the remaining 2 which hopefully will block up their ability to breathe and make them drop off - hideous things!

Hopefully he carry on putting on lots of weight and be ready to release back into the wild before the weather gets too cold. Thanks to Jo who has been giving me some great advice about hedgehog raising via email.

a quick apology

Just to say sorry to all those people who are waiting from an email back from me (there are 53 messages in my in box awaiting replies). We've been having a tough week with Toby who is struggling with the lack of routine and is unsettled and not sleeping well. The school summer hols are especially tough for him and therefore for me too! I am probably not going to get around to replying to everyone until next week when the children go back to school. Sorry if you're waiting to hear back from me - I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

A package from Dougie

I wanted to show you what came in the post today...

Isn't it awesome?

I can't imagine amount of work that went into creating this little concertina book. It's perfect. It has a little passport for Dougie, a certificate of Australian Citizenship (he obviously has connections in high places to get that through so quickly!), a little bit about his new home and the friends he's made and some wonderful pictures of him enjoying himself.

It was sent to me by the lovely Kim Bunney (yes, Dougie has obviously found the perfect family to live with - he doesn't even have to change his name!) and I'm going to treasure it always. Thanks so much Kim and Dougie.

Our new addition!

On Thursday we had a new addition to our family - meet Herbert (I wanted to call him Hogwort but Amy over-ruled me!)

He's a baby hedgehog (hoglet) approx 4 weeks old, 140gms and orphaned so will be staying with us until he's big enough to make it on his own. For now he's living in a crate in the garage with a snuggly bed made from an old towel, shredded newspaper and a little hay. He's chowing down on chicken kitten food mixed with a little goats milk and although he has 4 ticks is otherwise healthy and alert. I'm hand rearing him with support from an official carer of the British Hedgehog preservation society who have an excellent website packed full of information and hedgehoggy facts.

If you find an injured or sick hedgehog you should always contact them or the RSPCA and ask for advice before removing an animal from the wild. Since Herbert was found alone in broad daylight and calling near to another dead baby hodger it was clear he needed help and wasn't going to make it on his own. We're now trying to build his weight up to  around 600gms so that he'll be able to be released into the wild ready for his winter hibernation. Will keep you posted on his progress! 

A little 'me' knitting!

Before I started knitting mostly toys I made quite a few cardis and jumpers for the children but it has been ages since I made anything for myself. Well, that has just changed mainly thanks to ravelry. I was so inspired by all the gorgeous knitting going over there and finding the perfect free pattern on knitty was the push I needed to rush out and buy myself some scarf yarn.

And shortly after I had this - my 'branching out' scarf in herb felted tweed.

I've really enjoyed making this scarf and I'm chuffed to bits with how it turned out. I have a feeling that I might have need to make another in a different yarn sometime soon! There is also some bunny knitting going on here but more news of that next week.

Little friends far away...

In the absence of any new little friends to show you (although there are now some in production) I thought I'd share some pictures of some 'old' little friends in new places. Here are a few toys who've settled very happily into their new homes and dropped me a line.

Pablo has moved in with with Janice and even has his own personal guard dog, the lovely Sumo.

Kat at sent me some pictures of Tessie and Rosemary who are enjoying being together in her beautiful craftroom

These two ladies are obviously having fun with Shannon at Minerva Turkey

Dougie is having a great time in Australia with Kim and sent me a postcard:

Winifred has made some beautiful new friends over at biscuit's house

And last but most definitely not least Mr Minky has had an awesome time since leaving here - he's now been on holiday and got his ear pierced! Dave has documented the full debauchery of his adventures here, it's brilliant - you have to check it out!

Ravelry and happiness...

I was so happy on friday because I got my long awaited Ravelry invite! I spent most of yesterday evening browsing and playing - it's very addictive (I know, I should get out more!).

It is astounding how popular this new website has been and the 2 people running it deserve medals for the sheer amount of hardwork in putting it together, ironing out the bugs and keeping cool under intense pressure from all us impatient knitters.

Anyone else on Ravelry yet? If you are leave me a comment with your details and I'll come and visit you. If you're already signed up then pop in and visit me - on Ravelry I'm bunnyknitter. And if you're a knitter and you're not yet signed up - pop over to Ravelry, see what all the fuss is about and get your name on the invite list!

I am also happy today because my little girl told me she wants to be just like me when she grows up (bless her little cotton socks!) I know it's only a matter of time before this kind of thing becomes a thing of the past -  the days when she wants to wear the same things as me are definitely numbered. In a few short years she'll scorn the entire contents of my wardrobe, but for now we can wear matching shoes in harmony!!

lovely awards!

It's so nice to get awards and I'm really lucky at the moment because I've just bagged two! The first is a 'nice matters' award from both Suzie Sews and Marie Chantal. Bella Enchanted started this award and she suggested it be awarded to those that are just nice people, good blog friends and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others that are there to lend support or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world!

I've been pondering who to pass it on to because in the crafty circles that I run in there is a real prevelance of nice people - obviously creativity and being nice go hand-in-hand! To whittle down my list I've picked the people who've really been nicest to me since I started blogging - the ones who've emailed and freely offered support and friendship, so in no particular order my 7 nice awardees are

Zoe - Zoe's Knitting bag
Katie - What Katie did
Maddie - Maddy's Glass House
Kirsten - Kirsten Can
Janet Clare
Alice - Raspberry
Rebecca - Irish Sally Garden

I feel a bit guilty about the second award as I've been sitting on it for ages. Also I'm not sure I quite deserve the acolade (being a 41 year old mum of two I've never felt less like a rockin' girl - more of a rockin' chair girl!) but I'm very grateful all the same to be nominated by Kirsten and Sue as a...

I'm passing it on to the following lovely ladies who definitely rock!

Suzie Sews - (tee hee, got you back!)
Val at DottyCookie
Lucy at Lucy Locket
Kerry at Monkee Maker
Michaela - The Stash Basket

"didn't she do well"...

to quote Brucie (showing my age here!) which seems appropriate really as I do feel a bit like a winner on the generation game and this is the reason:

My lovely swap package for Zoe's yarn in a teacup swap sent to me from southern Australia by the very thoughtful and generous Lindy. I only had time for a quick snap before the urge to rip off all the pretty wrapping became too much for me to resist. And when I'd ripped off all the neat packaging I found this wonderful selection of goodies.

Lots of wonderfully soft and luxurious alpaca yarn in lovely shades for bunnies, a beautiful mug and matching plate (perfect for tea and cake) cute and cuddly Aussie toys and 2 books for the children and some lovely Aussie souvenirs - Thanks Lindy, you're a star!

The nicest thing about the swap is the care Lindy took in putting together the package - it really means a lot to me that she was so very thoughtful and that the gifts she sent are so perfect for me and the kids. It's heartwarming when people are so thoughtful and generous to a stranger - it shows us that there is good in people and that the world is not all doom and gloom despite what the media would have us believe!

And we can all sleep a little better at night with that thought in our heads...

Happy holidays!

Well, we're back. A little bronzed from the sun, a little salty from much splashing in the sea, a little weary from the journey, and a lot happy!

We stayed in Croyde which is a really quiet and pretty North Devon village nestled in a valley by the sea with lots of gorgeous old cottages, surf shops and places to get ice-cream and fudge - though sadly not as yummy as Simmy's wonderful confectionary!

Our holiday home was called Chuggs cottage which is part of a Devon long house built in 1636 (as the beam shows).

There wasn't a single flat bit of floor or a right-angle to the walls and it was a wonderfully old, creaky, and fairytale-ish!

We were really lucky with the weather which was warm and sunny all week and so we spent most of our time on the beach in Croyde bay.

Amy learnt to body surf and Toby just splashed

A good time was had by all and now the kids are happily settled in their own beds I'm just sifting through the pile of sandy washing. Once that's underway I'll be settling down to the serious business of catching up with some of my favourite blogs - afterall a week is a long time in blogland!